Largo's Sahara Deli Is Mediterranean Oasis

A new Largo grocery store and deli provides the community with flavorful and healthy foods from the Middle East.

Sahara Mediterranean Foods & Deli, on West Bay Drive, sells a wide selection of foods from the Middle East, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. 

"People like the healthy foods like tabouli, gyros, falafel and grape leaves," said Sahara co-owner Omar Younes.

Younes, who is from Lebanon, loves sharing specialties from his home region with the greater Largo and Belleair Bluffs community.

Sahara's deli counter offers hot pita wraps including gyros, broiled chicken pitas, kebabs, Greek salads, hummus, meat platters, freshly baked vegetarian pies and more.

Plus, there is ample space to sit at booths and dine in the deli with music and photos from Lebanon, which can transport visitors away from busy West Bay Drive.

The grocery section sells many varieties of olive oil, coffee, tea, pumpkin seeds, fava beans, fig preserves, apricot paste, baklava, pistachios, pitas and other specialty products from the Middle East.

The West Bay Drive store opened in March. Sahara is co-owned by Younes and Nabil Chehab. Chehab owns the popular Cedar Market in St. Petersburg, which is also a Middle Eastern deli and grocery store.

If You Go: Sahara Mediterranean Foods & Deli

• Address: 1901 West Bay Dr., Largo
• Phone: (727) 216-6221
• Hours: Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. until 7 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Want to read about other local places to eat? Sign up for the Largo Patch email newsletter to get our headlines delivered to your inbox orsmartphone, for free!